What You Can Do Right Now To Help Houston Texas

My eyes can’t get away from the devastation in Houston and all surrounding areas of Southern Texas. Houston is literally a city under water, the 4th largest in the nation.

(c) Time Magazine

My mind is overwhelmed by the amount of people displaced, homes lost, lives threatened, infrastructure destroyed, and the rain and flooding just keeps coming. Houston and the surrounding areas will no longer be the same as we knew it before August 26, 2017. It was inevitable. There’s no amount of preparation that would have prevented this magnitude of wreckage.

Wreckage. That is the best way to describe it. And yet, is all hope lost?

When change is inevitable, especially change we did not want, we MUST believe new change is POSSIBLE. And not only possible, but can make way for positive, progressive impact.

This is hard to believe in times such as this. This is not to say we must stuff down the sorrow and believe that any of this mess from the hurricane was a good thing. Nobody can convince me that this was intrinsically a good thing that happened. But, can good come from it? Absolutely! I think this is where we either choose to give up and believe that Houston is ruined, or we decide now that we will come together as humans supporting humans despite color, race, religion, socioeconomic status, or the like and let it unite us together like never before. In light of a much divided country, is it possiblethis could be used to bring us together when our nation is especially at odds?

Good can come from wreckage when we choose to become a positive wake of change.

I sit here in the comfort of my own home in Southern California, where triple digit temperatures and a struggling A.C. are my biggest threats. I sit here typing while my kids get to go to school, when so many kids in Texas are displaced, schools are under water, and those freshly bought backpacks likely washed away. I sit here stressing about my broken website (I don’t even know if this post will make it out into the world) struggling through and processing the wake of change in my own life with the direction of my vocational pursuits (sounds so pitiful in light of real issues). There were some hard recent, inevitable changes in my life causing some sorrow in it’s midst, acceptance of loss, and yet it feels trivial compared to the massive sorrows of loss I feel for the hard recent, inevitable changes in Texas from this massive hurricane strike. And yet again, I choose to believe–not that any of this was good–but good things can come from it despite the circumstances.

Because if the Bible says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him,” (Romans 8:28) we must believe He can triumph over all things–illness, divorce, loss, persecution, debilitating sorrows–those things that break our hearts.

Pray for a miracle. Pray for God to intervene in the lives of these people. Pray for our nation to rise up stronger, helping one another in the face of tragic circumstances. Pray, knowing that God is sorrowed for this devastation, but is working for good despite the circumstances.

Good doesn’t just happen though. Good comes from us taking action.

What you can do right now to help Houston, Texas:

Pray! Pray for the hurricane to die down. Pray it will not bring more water to the area. Pray for the personnel and people involved in helping save lives. Pray for the resources of organizations to have what they need to provide food, shelter, and clothing. And pray for your own heart to be sensitive to the hearts and needs of others around you. Praying may not feel like its doing much, but I assure you it is.

Do. If you live in or near the areas flooded and devastated by Hurricane Harvey, connect with a local church in your area and see what the needs are. I’ve seen many of my friends from that area working together to bring pillows, blankets, old clothes, food, and other items to these churches and shelters. Call first to check on their most direct needs. Communication is key so as to provide the best type of “doing” activity to make the most impact of your time and help. Those that live further away, stay connected with organizations in the area to find out when the best time to come help rebuild is. Right now is not that time. Here’s what you need to know about the stages of “DO” for this type of tragedy:

Right now is the time to make sure people are save and secure (again, pray for the search and rescue teams and all other personnel).

Next, the next stage of focus once the hurricane passes and the major danger has passed, higher demand for the direct needs of those affected will be required (food, shelter, basic necessities). This will be a time when your money counts. Financial aide will be imperative to getting the needs of others met.

FINALLY, it will be time to get hands-on help for these communities which of course will require many hands to re-build an even better Houston, Texas than it was before.

I believe in a nation that will rise up stronger from this. I believe that any wreckage or inevitable change, especially those we didn’t plan for, can make us stronger and propel us to creative a positive wake of change.

Be the change, friends. You know what to do.

Join the

Inner Circle

Receive only the good stuff. You know you want to!

(You are consenting to be on Rachel C. Swanson's email list. No spam, promise!)

Rachel Swanson is a life coach, author and speaker that wants to Revive your heart to follow God’s purpose for you. Refine the area’s in your life holding you back. Restore your heart and mind to what is True. And Release those God-given dreams into the world.